Bach: Christmas Oratorio
Katja Stuber (soprano), Raffaele Pe (counter-tenor), Martin Platz (tenor), Thomas Stimmel (bass)
La Capella Reial de Catalunya
Jordi Savall / Le Concert des Nations (Alia Vox)
(scroll down for English review)
薩巴爾第一次灌錄巴哈《聖誕神劇》，是2019年聖誕前的現場錄音，去年聖誕前出實體碟，等到現在終於放上網上平台，時間剛剛好。首先最意外來自音響，殘響很大，就像在教堂一樣，雖然薩巴爾並非「一聲部一人」的信徒，但原音演奏又很少有這麼溫暖飽滿的感覺。再查一下錄音資料，場地居然是在巴塞羅那音樂宮，如真是天然效果，那麼真的要去開開眼界。
但就算沒有這麼好的音樂廳，薩巴爾已經很注重發音的圓滑，無論是樂器及人聲亦然，他會用盡原音演奏的獨有音色，但又不會像許多新派原音演奏般，會把演奏弄到太刺耳或神經質。薩巴爾的甜美，也令我領略到此曲另一個稍被忽略的地方。
歐洲現場演奏《聖誕神劇》時，往往省略第二及三首清唱劇，以求一晚奏完，其實這個錄音都是用兩天完成，各奏三首。但薩巴爾在第二及三首的演奏，卻最得我心，因為把耶穌出生後所受的寵愛最甜美地展現出來。巴哈在受難曲令聽者感同身受耶穌的痛苦，這裏則是想信眾以親情去感受聖誕的奇蹟。
Recorded before Christmas 2019, Jordi Savall’s first ever Bach Christmas Oratorio recording was released on disc before Christmas 2020, and now finally on streaming platforms, just in time for Christmas 2021. I was instantly struck by the sonics as it’s really rare to hear such lush sound from a period ensemble. It was like being in a church but no, it was taken as a live recording at the Palau de la Musica in Barcelona.
Regardless of the venue, Savall already took so much attention in crafting a rounded sound from his orchestra and choir. He took full advantage of HIP’s unique tonal colours but he’d never deliver a scratchy, neurotic sound as many newer HIP ensembles do.
Recordings of the Christmas Oratorio were rarely abridged, but in live performances the second and third cantatas are often dropped to wrap up the work in one evening. But it was precisely Savall’s mellowness in these two cantatas that I savoured the most. While Bach, in his passions, intended the congregation to feel Jesus’ agony, here he wanted them to feel the Christmas miracle through the very human emotion of love towards a newborn baby.